Hiding In Plain Sight
by Speciosus Nihilum
Summary: There's a new girl in Skool, and she just might be Dib's big break into the world of paranormal science. However, things soon become more complicated than expected; instead of turning her in, Dib might actually end up saving her.
1. The New Girl

Chapter One

_**A/N: This is my first Invader Zim fanfiction, so please be kind if you don't like it. Other than that, I can't think of anything else to say that wouldn't come off as ranting. Happy reading!**_

_Disclaimer__: Although it would be quite fabulous if I did, I do not own and did not create Invader Zim._

**The bell's droning ring sounded across town**, signaling the start of yet another day for the students at Skool. Seemingly in unison, the teachers began either lecturing or writing on the chalkboard, while the children either looked bored or disturbingly attentive. The only thing that differed slightly from normal was the arrival of a new student—in Ms. Bitters' class, to be specific.

"Children, it is to my great dismay that yet another hopeless classmate is to join you today," Ms. Bitters informed her students with her usual indifference.

"Hopefully, this one won't be weird—or crazy," one of the students said under his breath, causing gazes to be shot at Zim and Dib.

As if on cue, the door opened slowly, eventually revealing the curious face of a young girl carrying a black, purse-like bag over her shoulder. Cherry-red bangs were brushed along her brow, the rest of her hair ending at her neck, with small tufts poking out from behind her ears. Her eyes were a brilliant blue, and she wore a sea foam green, knee-length halter dress with a huge, navy blue bow in the back, which tied around her waist. Her stockings had black and blue horizontal stripes and she wore black, patent leather boots.

"Looks normal enough to me," the same boy from before said.

"You must be Rin," Ms. Bitters assumed with a rather nonchalant tone. The girl nodded. "Well, have a seat somewhere. . . ."

Ms. Bitters scanned the room quickly, noticing an open seat next to Dib. "There," she pointed with her long, thin finger. "You'll sit next to Dib."

The girl walked to her seat, her emotions hard to read, as her face remained serene. She placed her black bag beneath her seat and sat down with perfect posture, her hands folded neatly on her lap. She realized within a few seconds that someone was staring at her, and when she looked over to see Dib's eyes fixated on her face, she felt the sudden urge to leave the room. Her face flushed and she turned her head quickly in the opposite direction of Dib, keeping her eyes on the desk in front of her. Being stared at made her feel uncomfortably exposed.

"So, Rin, if you wish to say anything, I would do it now, before it becomes a threat to your survival," Ms. Bitters broke into Rin's uneasy thoughts with an irritated voice.

She looked up and smiled slightly. "Um, actually, I can't think of anything that important."

"Oh. Well, on with today's lesson, then. . . ."

**At lunch, Rin's recent arrival was painfully apparent**. Her fellow classmates had already gathered into their various cliques, leaving her stranded in a sea of empty aisles and uninviting lunch tables. On more than one occasion, she was turned down when she asked to sit with someone, and eventually, her only options were sitting with Dib, and what she guessed was his sister, or with the curious green kid, Zim.

Considering how Dib's previous staring at her made her skin crawl, Rin decided she'd choose Zim. If he turned her down . . . well, then she supposed she's have to grin and bear it.

"Excuse me?"

Zim, who had been poking at his food warily with his spoon, whipped his head up at her, his eyes riddled with suspicion.

She tried not to let his untrusting looks sidetrack her. "Um, would you mind if I sat here with you?"

He looked confused. "Uh . . . yes I would," he finished quickly and looked back to his tray.

She frowned at his curtness momentarily, but she let her pride go and asked again. "Please?"

He looked up again with agitated, narrow eyes. He seemed to be about to say something nasty until he looked into Rin's irises, whereupon all of his aggression vanished. The sudden feeling of ease angered him to the point that he snapped his spoon in half subconsciously. Looking over at the broken spoon in his hand, he wondered how he could've possibly lost his train of thought like that.

"I'm afraid I really don't have any other place to sit. Can I please sit here?" He heard Rin asking again, in her aggravatingly innocent voice.

"Huh? I guess," he said begrudgingly, already beginning to dread having not only to sit staring at human food, but also be surrounded by the nauseating smell of human flesh.

Shockingly, the longer Rin sat beside him, Zim realized she didn't have any distinguishable odor—in fact, she smelled almost pleasant, which seemed a bit strange. He hadn't been on Earth that long, but he'd lived amongst humans long enough to know that every one of them had their own, distinct stench.

Maybe his senses were deceiving him. Just to make sure, he leaned over and tried to get a better whiff of Rin's scent, sniffing her hair as she chewed on a few potato chips from the paper bag she'd brought for lunch. Almost instantly, Rin pulled away and shot Zim an apprehensive look, gulping down the chips with visible skepticism.

"Were you just sniffing my hair?" she asked in a disgusted tone.

"No," Zim answered casually, then looked back to the icky green slime that covered his lunch tray.

Rin shrugged and went back to eating.

_I couldn't smell a thing_, Zim thought to himself as Rin continued to eat. _Maybe I was rushing; surely, she must share the same stink that covers the other humans._

He attempted to smell her hair again, but this time, Rin whirred her head around before Zim had a chance to look away and whistle innocently. Instead, he sat there, close enough to Rin to feel her breath on his face, and looked dumbly into her eyes.

"I knew it! You _were_ trying to sniff me," she said with a glare.

"No I wasn't," Zim replied calmly.

"Yes you were! I just saw you."

"No you didn't."

She stared at him blankly for a moment, at a loss for words after such a stupid comeback.

When she recovered, her voice was tired. "Okay, this is obviously going nowhere. Can you please just move away from me?"

Zim moved away. "And stop trying to sniff me, too," she muttered just as Zim was about to try again.

_She _doesn't_ have a scent . . . well, at least not a horrible one. She actually smells pretty good_, Zim thought to himself. _I've never encountered a human whose stench didn't make me sick . . . well, maybe there are some humans out there that actually take time to bathe themselves._

**Across the cafeteria**, Dib sat at his table, watching Zim interact with the new girl and waiting for him to do something weird. He noticed Zim kept trying to sniff her hair, and while that did seem a bit strange, Dib realized it didn't have anything to do with proving Zim was an alien—maybe the new girl's shampoo had a really nice smell. She didn't seem to appreciate all of the attention, though.

"Don't you ever get tired of watching Zim all the time?" Gaz asked while her eyes remained transfixed on the screen of her Game Slave 2.

"Actually, no," Dib admitted. "Anyway, I'm not just watching Zim. A new girl arrived in our class today, and she's sitting with him right now. He keeps trying to sniff her hair for some reason, but that doesn't seem to creep her out too much. I'm waiting for him to do something really weird."

As much as Dib concentrated on the two, they simply sat there together, Rin munching away on potato chips while Zim stared at his food with his usual disgust. At one point, Rin pulled out a muffin from her lunch bag and offered it to Zim, but when he declined—like Dib expected he would—Rin simply shrugged and ate it herself.

"Nothing's happening. Zim's actually acting normal," Dib said with a disappointed sigh. He slouched on the bench and rested his cheek in his hand, absently taking a spoonful of the green mass from his tray and eating it.

Eventually, Rin got up to throw away her paper bag, walking past Dib in the process. He watched as she stepped over to the trashcan and gently tossed the crumpled bag out, thinking that maybe he'd exaggerated the coincidence of her sitting with Zim; maybe she was too normal for anything weird to happen. Actually, she seemed almost boring; everything she did was proper and lady-like, as if she'd been transferred out of a top-notch boarding school. Her dress was free of wrinkles, her leather boots shiny and new, her hair perfectly smoothed, and her skin as clear as porcelain. It was kind of annoying, how perfect she seemed.

Then, as she walked beneath the sunlight filtering through a grimy window on her way back to her seat, Dib could've swore he saw her skin was glowing—and sparkling. He blinked his eyes and rubbed them roughly—just in case he _was_ dreaming—but when she was still shimmering when he reopened his eyes, Dib knew something was up.

"Gaz! Look at that!" He pointed at Rin, her sparkles fading but still present as she shifted back into the shadows. "Look at her skin!"

Conveniently, when Gaz finally looked up, Rin's flesh had returned to normal. "Stop being stupid," Gaz grumbled.

"No, really! Her skin—it gave off this weird glow when she walked under the window, and it was all glittery," Dib explained, suddenly feeling full of energy.

"'Glittery'? Dad was right; you really have been watching too much of _My Pretty Pony_," Gaz muttered.

"No, I know what I saw," Dib said defensively. "And I told you, I was channel-surfing, and that show just happened to be on. I didn't actually watch it."

"Whatever. Just leave me alone."

Dib didn't seem to hear her; he was too busy thinking about reasons for the new girl to have such an odd . . . skin complexion. He figured she probably wasn't an Irken, seeing as he'd never seen Zim's skin glimmer when he was out in the sunlight. However, that didn't mean he had to rule her out as an alien completely. He also didn't want to become too sure of anything right away, seeing as he had hardly any evidence of her being anything but normal.

_I'll just have to start _collecting_ some evidence_, Dib thought excitedly. _Maybe this new girl won't be so boring after all_.


	2. Unsuspected Outcomes

_**A/N: Thank you to whoever has read this far, even if it's only the second chapter. This chapter is also relatively short, so I'm going to post Chapter Three as well (seeing as I already have it written). Anyway, hope you like it.**_

* * *

**When Skool let out**, Rin was innocently walking down the steps that led to the building's entrance, seemingly without a care in the world. Her black bag was slung over her shoulder, and her hands were clasped in front of her as she descended down the stairs. Dib watched from a safe distance behind her, trying to follow her as stealthily as he could. He held his video camera in his left hand, with his right hand ready to grab it and bring it to eye level as soon as the sun hit Rin's skin.

Surely enough, within seconds of reaching the ground, Rin's entire body lit up, as if the sunlight was being generated from beneath her skin instead of from some overgrown star in the sky. Her flesh began to glisten, as if tiny shards of crystal were lodged into her every pore. It was one of the most beautiful, paranormal things Dib had ever seen in his whole life.

Dib nearly squealed from the excitement as he rushed the camera up to his face and quickly clicked the record button. _This is it! My first piece of real evidence against . . . hey, wait a minute!_

As soon as Dib looked through the lens of his camera, he noticed Rin's skin no longer had an abnormal glow, and the sparkles were no longer visible. However, as soon as he moved the camera from his eyes and looked at her normally, both of the strange signs were back. He went back and forth between looking at her through his camera and with just his eyes a few times, frustrated that his camera didn't seem to pick up anything.

_Whatever's happening must be so supernatural that it can only be seen with the naked eye,_ Dib thought. Frustrated, he replaced the lens cap and hurried down the stairs to catch up with Rin. "Hey! Hey, Rin!"

She stopped abruptly but didn't turn around. Instead, she just stood and waited, serene as ever, and waited for Dib to catch up to her. Once he came into her line of vision, she asked sweetly, "Yes?"

"Um . . . did you know that your skin is . . . sparkling?"

She looked confused, lifting her right hand warily to her face and examining it. She turned it over, flipping from her palm to the back of her hand, and Dib began to wonder how long it would take her to realize she resembled a walking crystal chandelier. He figured she'd noticed the uncanny glinting when her eyes widened and she swapped her normally calm expression for one of great fear.

"You can see this?" she asked in a hushed voice, still staring at her hand.

"Yep. Your skin's glowing, too, like you've switched on some type of internal light bulb," Dib added casually with a smirk. "I'm guessing you hoped no one would notice."

Almost immediately, Rin was gripping Dib by the sleeves of his jacket. "Please, don't tell anyone," she said with a shaking voice.

Dib tried not to look in her eyes; he didn't want to feel guilty for using her as his ticket to recognition in the realm of paranormal science, but the desperation that she held in her irises made his heart sink. To avoid the guilt trip, he tried focusing on her nose as he spoke. "I don't really need to tell anyone. They've probably all noticed by now."

Rin looked around the schoolyard, where kids from each of the assorted classes were either piling onto the buses or heading home on foot. She could feel her stomach beginning to tighten, but when no one looked over at her, and those that did told her they liked her "new glitter lotion," she relaxed a bit. Everyone seemed to be clueless.

Dib didn't seem as relieved. "Why is everyone just walking past us?"

"I don't know . . . but I'm glad they are," she sighed happily, letting go of Dib's sleeves. She gave him a bright smile and a wave as she turned around to walk home. "I'll see you in school tomorrow, Dib."

Dib didn't really notice; he was still pondering over how blind everyone seemed to be. He'd change that soon, though; tomorrow, he'd make everyone notice Rin and her strange skin . . . and maybe then, everyone would finally stop saying he was insane.

* * *

**During recess the next day**, Dib noticed Rin was carefully staying out of the sunlight by hiding under a tree, completely absorbed in the shade. Her black bag was on the ground beside her, and she appeared to be sketching something into a small notebook. Anyone casually glancing around the playground would've assumed she was just minding her own business, trying to stay out of everyone's way and keep to herself. That would've made sense, too, seeing as her entire class thought she was a bit shy.

Well, everyone but Dib. He'd been watching her almost the entire day so far, taking a chance to survey her in between keeping an eye on Zim. He'd tried exposing her in class earlier, tipping back in his chair to let the sunlight hit Rin's arm as it rested on the desk, but she quickly caught on and kept her arms under the desk after that. He even tried bringing up the subject in class, but as usual, the majority of his classmates just stared at him, and a few called him crazy.

Therefore, after both of his attempts turned out to be miserable failures, Dib decided he'd try to expose her during recess. All he had to do was lure her out from under the tree and quickly catch everyone's attention. It was simple . . . and would probably turn out to be fun, too.

He walked over to Rin slowly, smiling the entire time (despite the fact that it made him look a tad unstable). When he finally reached the tree, he could barely contain himself.

"Why aren't you out here in the nice, warm sunlight, huh, Rin?" He asked with an infectious smile. "You aren't afraid of something _weird_ happening, are you?"

"Actually, yes," Rin answered innocently. She tilted her head to the side, a bit bemused by Dib's questions. "You remember what happened yesterday, don't you?"

"Of course I do," he smirked, "and it's time everyone else found out, too!"

He began walking closer to Rin, his smile nearly stretching from ear to ear. He bent down, ready to take Rin's arm.

"What are you doing?" she asked, her eyes wide and voice small.

He didn't answer; Dib quickly swiped his hand out and grabbed Rin's wrist, tightening his grasp as he pulled her to her feet. She dropped her notebook and pencil and began trying to free her arm. She wriggled and told him to let go, but when neither seemed to work, she went for Dib's hand with her free one and began trying to dig her fingernails into his skin. That only succeeded in Dib holding her other wrist, too.

"Stop it!" she cried as he began dragging her out from under the tree. She tried keeping her feet planted firmly on the ground, but Dib simply yanked her forward and continued walking. Eventually, they were out in broad daylight, the noon sun high in the sky, and Rin had no place left to hide.

"Look, everybody!" Dib yelled, his smile broader than ever. "Look at Rin!"

Abruptly, Rin's strength seemed to double as fright overtook her. She yanked her arms toward herself again, and this time, not only did her wrists come back free, but Dib came tumbling toward her as well. He collided with her before she could move out of the way, and Rin suddenly found herself lying on the hot asphalt with Dib on top of her.

He didn't seem to be fazed; instead, Dib began to sniff her. "You know, you _do_ smell good . . . really good, actually," he commented.

"Dib's got a girlfriend!" some random child called, pointing and laughing at the spectacle, completely ignoring the odd way Rin's skin glimmered.

Dib didn't seem to notice; however, Rin, in the midst of all the commotion, had had quite enough of Dib and his antics for one day. She pushed against his chest, making him propel backward, and ran back under the tree, picking up her notebook and pencil. She began sketching again, trying to act like nothing happened, but now and then, a tear or two made its way down her cheek.

"Geez, Dib, way to go and make the new girl cry," said one of his fellow male classmates as he walked by, shaking his head.

"What?" Dib looked behind him to the tree. Beneath it was Rin, trying to hide her face as she wiped a few tears from her eyes. A couple girls were crowding around her, probably asking her what was wrong . . . and, more than likely, telling her how big of a jerk he was for upsetting her.

_I didn't mean to hurt her. I would've approached the situation differently, if I knew she would react this way_, Dib thought, suddenly feeling lower than dirt. He'd never made a girl cry—it was just something you didn't do; his father had went over that at a young age and reminded him of it every once in a while. What happened when you accidentally did?

_Well, I guess there's only one way to find out_, he thought with a mental sigh. Reluctantly, he began heading over to the tree.


	3. Crash Landing

_**A/N: The last chapter was rather short, but this one's basically normal length. Enjoy!**_

* * *

**When Dib came close enough to the tree to hear** the girls who encircled Rin backbiting him, he started to get a fluttery feeling in the pit of his stomach; this wasn't going to turn out well. If Rin believed a word of what the girls were telling her, she'd surely start to hate him and turn out to be like everyone else in his class. He may have been trying to expose her for his own personal gain . . . but couldn't that be forgiven, or at least overlooked?

Dib's shoes made a barely audible crunch on the grass as he stepped into the shade, but the sound must've been loud enough to alert the girls of his presence. They realigned themselves to form a barrier around Rin, each of them peering at him with suspicion and contempt. He gave them an uneasy smile, hoping to lighten the mood a bit, but they continued to give him the death glare.

"What are you doing over here?" one of the girls asked, her hands on her hips. "You're not welcome."

"I just came to talk to Rin," he explained, trying to peer over their shoulders to see her. It didn't work.

"Well, maybe she doesn't want to talk to you," another girl commented.

"But, I just—"

"I can take it from here," a familiar voice interjected, trying to sound commanding but only coming out small and soft.

Dib watched as Rin stood up, becoming visible through the spaces in her human shield. She kindly asked the girls to leave, giving them a half-hearted smile as they hesitantly broke away and went back to being immersed in various activities across the playground. Once they were gone, Rin let out a sigh and leaned against the tree, crossing her arms as she waited for Dib to begin.

"Look, I didn't mean to make you cry," he finally let out after a few seconds had passed.

Rin didn't look the least bit convinced. "Then what were you trying to do? What have I done to you to make you want everyone to think I'm some sort of circus freak?"

"You haven't done anything. It's just . . . that sparkling is really strange, and I've been seeking recognition for my paranormal studies since . . . well, practically since I was born, and . . . ."

"I would be the perfect way for you to achieve that success," Rin finished his sentence, her voice low and almost inaudible. She looked away momentarily, trying to compose herself, but it didn't work very well. "Why me? Didn't you ever consider how that would affect _me_? Do you really think I want to be the government's little science experiment?"

Now he felt horrible. Of course he'd thought about how _his_ life would change, how no one would ever dare call him crazy again, and how he would finally gain the respect and reverence he so rightfully deserved. But he never really sat down and thought about how Rin's life would be impacted; to tell the truth, he hadn't really cared.

"I can tell from your expression that you couldn't have cared less about what happened to me," Rin uttered with disdain. "And to think I almost started to like you."

Rin bent down to pick up her notebook and pencil, putting them back in her black bag before storming past Dib to the extreme opposite side of the playground. She was well aware of how her skin probably looked in direct sunlight, but she didn't care; no one noticed before, and they probably never would. The only thing that mattered was getting as far away from Dib as possible. She had to calm down, and being around him was only working to amplify her anger.

* * *

**Dib simply stood there,** feeling too low to move. It wasn't until Zim came by that Dib snapped back into reality.

"It seems you handled your situation with the stink-less sparkle girl brilliantly," Zim said with a smile, almost laughing at how miserably Dib had failed to make amends.

"Shut up," Dib retorted bitterly. The last person he wanted to talk to was Zim.

"She seems very angry with you. Perhaps I can get her to assist me in plotting your eventual demise," Zim schemed with a broad grin, his strange teeth displayed in all their glory.

"I doubt it, Zim. Just because she doesn't like me doesn't me she wants to see me dead." Dib grimaced. "Besides, she'd never help alien scum like you."

"Oh? How can you be so sure?"

"Because any human in their right mind would want to _protect_ this planet from something like you!"

"So now you're positive she's human."

Dib stared at Zim blankly, suddenly lost in a sea of confusion. "What do you mean?"

"That girl sat next to me in the cafeteria yesterday, and I detected something very strange about her with my _superior_ sense of smell." Zim paused, seemingly for dramatic effect. "She doesn't share the same odor that covers the filthy bodies of the rest of you stink beasts. Actually, she smells quite . . . pleasingly."

"So what? Just because she smells good, she's not human? That's stupid . . . even for you, Zim."

Zim gritted his teeth. "You obviously do not fathom the extent of your race's stench! Why, the very thought of it is nauseating. For that girl to have a pleasant scent is more than a little peculiar."

"Besides," he said casually once he calmed down a bit, "her skin gets all sparkly-like when she walks under your sun. I haven't seen any humans do _that_ yet, and judging by the way you treated her, neither have you."

Dib hated to admit it, but Zim had a point. What if Rin wasn't human? He'd told himself not to rule out that possibility when he first noticed something different about her, but he never really thought it would come down to her being an alien. Aliens were supposed to be oddly colored, with freakish eyes and antennae . . . kind of like Zim. Or at least they should exhibit some of those characteristics, not look like a perfectly normal human being.

Then again, Tak had looked like an ordinary human when she'd worn her disguise. He never would've suspected her to be a threat to humanity if Zim hadn't brought it to his attention. Maybe it was the same with Rin . . . but he still couldn't be sure. She seemed too sweet to want to conquer the planet, and he doubted an alien would come to Earth for any other reason. All of that "we come in peace" jazz was purely Hollywood . . . right?

"I'll look into it, but I doubt she's from another planet," Dib said with uncertainty in his voice. When no one answered, he looked around to see Zim had left, and everyone else had already headed into the cafeteria for lunch. He shrugged and walked slowly into the building, feeling hunger contort his stomach but not quite sure if he really had an appetite.

* * *

**It happened around eight o' clock that night**, when all was calm in the Membrane household—Gaz was busy trying to conquer each level of difficulty on her Game Slave 2, Professor Membrane was off working on something that would likely benefit the entire world, and Dib was in his room, monitoring Zim through the device he'd implanted within the Irken's base. Everything was as it should be . . . well, that is, until a loud crash from outside rattled the house, sending vibrations all the way down to its foundation. The lights flickered, a few pictures fell from the walls, and Dib's computer suddenly lost its connection. Needless to say, he was the first one outside.

He nearly fainted when he found the reason for the crash—a peculiar-looking form of aircraft, seated for one person, with many complex controls inscribed with a language he'd never seen before. The windshield was almost completely shattered, and fragments of broken glass littered the ground and the inside of the ship where something had been propelled through—most likely, the pilot. There were various dents in the ship's pale blue metal body, and the jets located near the back of the ship were spewing black, thick clouds of smoke—which was never a good sign. However, the headlights of the ship still managed to stay lit, so the bulk of the ship's computer was probably unharmed.

"Look at this, Gaz!" Dib called excitedly as he ran up to the ship, ready to inspect the entire length of the vessel. "It's an alien's ship!"

He stretched out a hand to run along the metal exterior when suddenly, the ship became engulfed in a bright blue barrier that sent surges of electricity into Dib's fingers. They coursed through his body in a matter of seconds, lighting him up from the inside and resulting in a rather painful experience.

"Cool," Gaz muttered as she walked through the front door, watching her brother being mildly electrocuted with a decent amount of pleasure. She couldn't help but frown when Dib managed to pull away, stumbling backward and resorting to crawling to a safer distance.

"What kind of ship zaps people when they get close to it?" Dib mumbled angrily, examining the fingertips on his right hand where the electric current had entered his body.

"A very intelligent ship," a familiar voice answered. "You're lucky I'm damaged; the—"

The barrier began to flicker, the headlights shut off, and the voice slowly distorted until it faded out. A hollow mechanical sound filled the air, and then, complete silence. The entire ship had gone dead.

Dib got to his feet and approached the ship again, slowly reaching out to touch the side. Nothing happened. He ran his fingers over the cool metal, dipping them into the dents, and then cautiously poked his head into the driver's seat. A loose wire was jutting out from beneath a dashboard-like structure, sparks flying from a rupture in the wire's protective coating, and there was a tear in the seat where the glass had punctured it. After carefully ducking his head out, he then decided to head around to the back of the vessel. A strange, intricate symbol was painted clearly between the jets, but Dib didn't recognize it. The owner of the ship probably wasn't Irken.

"This is weird," he thought to himself. "An alien on Earth, other than Zim? And this one isn't even of the same race as him . . . this is really weird."

He tried studying the design, with its grand arches and sweeping slopes, and realized it somewhat resembled an extremely stylized starburst. There was also a smaller, more definite shape near the center of the design, and upon closer inspection, it looked very similar to . . . an Irken symbol? Now Dib was thoroughly confused.

"Hey, Dib." It was Gaz. "There's a girl over here. I think she's dead."

He walked around to the other side of the ship to find Gaz poking at a person, whose face was currently buried in the dirt, with a stick. The translucent golden wings that jutted out from the person's back immediately told Dib he was probably looking at an alien, and, more than likely, the pilot of the ship. Judging by the tight white dress that hugged at the person's body, he was fairly certain the suspect was a girl, and upon flipping her over to get a better view of her face, recognized the person only too much.

There, out cold on his front lawn, was Rin. Her cerise bangs were brushed roughly across her brow, and she wore an odd pair of blue-lens glasses that resembled safety goggles. Her sleeveless white dress reached mid-thigh and had a light blue zipper that ran from the tip of her turtleneck to the end of the skirt. Beneath the dress was some sort of fully-body under armor the shade of navy blue. Her hands were covered with elbow-length black gloves and feet hidden in black boots. All in all, she looked dressed to either be in a lab somewhere, performing painstakingly precise experiments, or . . . possibly piloting an alien ship.

* * *

"**Hey, isn't this that new girl from your class?"** Gaz asked as she continued to poke Rin's upper arm with the twig.

"Yeah . . . ." Dib responded in a distant tone. He bent down to touch the area near Rin's ear, right below her jaw—he knew a pulse could be felt there . . . well, at least with humans. Once he felt that slight but steady throbbing against his fingertips, he exhaled. "She's alive."

"Oh. Too bad." Gaz muttered as she stood and dropped the stick. She slowly trotted back into the house, her hopes of finding a dead body in her yard crushed yet again.

Dib sat there for a few more minutes, simply staring at Rin while she lay unconscious before him. He hadn't really gotten a chance to look at her up close since he'd first met her, and he hadn't noticed until now that she was actually quite pretty. It wasn't an overly striking beauty, but a soft and innocent kind that slowly draws in curious onlookers, like winter's first snow. She also looked very frail and sad, as if a single touch would cause her entire body to shatter into a million tiny pieces.

"Are you coming in or sleeping out there tonight?" Gaz called from within their house. "Make up your mind now because I'm shutting the door, and then I'm locking it."

"I'll be right there," he replied as he walked up to Rin.

When he'd come close enough, he spread his legs and took a deep breath. He slowly bent down and slid his arms under Rin's knees and the middle of her back, a bit below her wings. Bracing himself—and taking one last long, deep breath—he quickly raised Rin from the ground, hopefully before the extent of her body weight had time to settle in.

He stood breathing heavily for a few seconds, thinking about the agonizing strain Rin's body was putting on his poor arm muscles . . . before he realized Rin was almost as light as a feather. Come to think of it, she was rather easy to pull from beneath the tree on the playground, earlier, too; the only thing that complicated dragging her out into the sunlight was her resistance. Now, when she was completely knocked out, he might as well be carrying a box of tissues.

A rather fragrant box of tissues. With Rin so close to him, it was almost impossible to avoid the aroma that seemed to encompass her entire body. It was a light and airy scent, very sweet and alluring . . . .

"Are you coming in or what?" Gaz broke into his thoughts, sounding more aggravated than she had when she first asked him. He quickly ran into the house, Gaz slamming the door behind him.

"Shh! She'll wake up if you're that loud," he whispered, staring at Rin's face as if he wanted to reach out and caress it.

He was really starting to creep Gaz out. "You're going to do something weird to her, aren't you?"

"Not really. I'll just run a few tests, maybe turn her in to the government for experimentation," Dib answered casually as he walked into his eerily dark room and gingerly placed Rin on his bed. He sat down at his desk and pushed the power button on both his tower and monitor, anxious to get started.

"I'm sorry about earlier, Rin, but this is a chance at fame that I simply can't pass up," he whispered with a smile.

"Who are you _talking_ to?" Gaz yelled, already annoyed with his voice.

"No one!" He quickly glanced back at Rin, hoping she was a deep sleeper. So far, so good.

He let out a sigh. This was going to be a long night.


	4. The Great Unveiling

_**A/N: I can't really think of an introduction, so . . . hope you like it!**_

* * *

"**How does the DNA sample from Rin match up with mine?**" Dib asked his computer in a stage whisper.

It had only been a few minutes since he'd brought Rin into his room, and he already seemed to be making progress. He was able to snag a DNA sample from Rin without her flinching even the slightest bit—all he had to do was pluck a strand of hair. Gaz was still out in the living room slaying vampire piggies, and Professor Membrane was still working away on something in his lab downstairs, seemingly oblivious to everything that was going on in Dib's room. However, Dib liked it that way; he didn't need any distractions, especially anything that could wake Rin.

"You aren't related," the computer answered casually in its smooth, airy female voice.

Dib snapped back into the present. "Huh?"

"Dib subject and Rin subject are unrelated," the computer restated.

"Oh." He sighed. "Well, I didn't think we would be. I didn't expect her to be my long lost sister or something."

"You aren't related, meaning you're not of the same kingdom. There are zero similarities between Rin DNA and Dib DNA."

Dib was shocked. "We're not even from the same _kingdom_?"

"No. Rin subject does not fit requirements of Kingdom Animalia. In fact, subject doesn't fit requirements for anything. Subject is of unknown origin, in a class all its own."

"Zim was right. Rin's an . . . _alien_," Dib muttered to himself, hardly believing the words as they left his lips. He looked back to her, sleeping soundly on his bed, an innocent expression painted across her face. She looked so harmless, so normal . . . definitely not like an alien.

Then, he noticed how the moonlight filtered in through the open window above his bed, and how her skin flickered with tiny sparkles as the light hit her—almost as it had in the sunlight, but not nearly as dramatic. It was a softer twinkling, as fascinating and captivating as her scent—which was unlike anything he'd ever experienced before. It made him want to crawl up next to her in bed and wrap her in his arms, just so he could revel in the aroma. It was such a weird craving, and the more time he seemed to spend around Rin, the stronger the urge seemed to become. It was a bit frightening, especially since he didn't really care that much about girls—well, at least he _hadn't_, the last time he'd checked.

"It's probably just some form of defense," Dib told himself as he turned back to the computer. "She's just afraid of me, so she's trying to make me less of a threat by . . . making me feel really awkward."

He looked over his shoulder at her for a second, feeling the urge again, and shivered. "At least, I hope that's all it is."

* * *

**A while later, and Dib still really hadn't gotten anywhere**, as far as where figuring out Rin's race was concerned. He'd tried accessing the onboard computer in Tak's ship, but he didn't really know what to look up; the last time he'd used the ship, he'd known for what word he wanted a definition or the name of the planet that piqued his curiosity. His own computer wasn't able to uncover what planet Rin hailed from, and without any sufficient evidence to go on, it probably never would. If only Rin didn't look so human—everything about her was so _normal_! Granted, the glittery skin was new, but that was _it_!

"At this rate, I'd be better off asking her ship where it came from," he sighed, then suddenly perked up. "Hey, that's actually not that bad of an idea. It looked like the ship lost battery power, but maybe I can at least get the central computer back up."

He just about made it to the door before his dad stopped him. He was examining a lamp in the living room, which just so happened to greatly resemble the professor himself. "Where are you going this late at night?"

"I'm just going outside," Dib explained calmly. "An alien crashed her ship on the lawn, and I'm going to check it out, try to find out what planet she's from."

"Oh, more of your insane alien talk," Professor Membrane said with a sigh as he shook his head.

"No, really! Look outside, the ship's right there! The alien's in my room," Dib tried desperately to convince him, pointing to both the window and his room as he spoke.

"Of course she is, son," the professor said dismissively, pulling the chain on the lamp, watching the light flick off and on.

Dib just shrugged and stepped outside, wondering if anyone would _ever_ believe him. Then, he reached the ship and answered the question himself—why, of course they would believe him, after he let everyone know about Rin and her people! All he had to do was access the ship's computer, find out the name of Rin's race, and then blackmail her with that information in order to get her to tell him why she was on Earth. He'd then turn around and expose her, anyway . . . yes, this was all going to be very simple.

"Or maybe not," he mumbled as he began inspecting the condition of the ship's cockpit. The wire from before was still sparking, but that didn't seem to be the only problem; after sweeping the seat clear of glass shards, he noticed many of the controls were scratched, and many other wires underneath were shredded and letting off sparks. It would probably take_ days_ to repair all of the damage.

"But maybe the computer's still okay," he hoped, randomly clicking a few buttons on the main control panel.

A faint picture popped up on the shattered glass of the windshield, projecting from a small hole in the ship's dashboard. A whole bunch of characters in some unknown language scrolled past on the screen, then the same symbol that was on the back of the ship, followed by more characters. Dib was starting to grow bored when the ship began speaking to him.

"State your name," it commanded, and Dib contemplated whether he should tell the truth.

He didn't see why not. "Um, I'm Dib."

"Greetings, Dib. Would you like access to this ship's automated voice control system?"

He sat there dumbly, momentarily struck speechless by how easy this was. "Sure," he answered with a smile once he recovered.

"Too bad!"

Suddenly, the ship jerked violently, and Dib felt another wave of electricity circulate through his body. He found himself being thrown out of the ship and felt the familiar taste of dirt in his mouth as he landed on his face.

"I thought you were damaged," he muttered angrily as he got to his feet again, brushing the dirt off his jacket.

"I am, but only superficially," the ship explained in a voice that sounded exactly like Rin's. "It takes more than a silly little crash to total something of Anadolian design. My windshield wouldn't even be shattered if it hadn't needed to be replaced with glass from your _inferior_ planet."

"Wait, did you just say 'Anadolian'?"

"Hmm? Oh, I do suppose I did," the ship responded indifferently.

"Thank you!" Dib called as he ran back into the house, rushing into his computer chair in order to begin enabling the remote link in Tak's ship.

"Finally, the lead I've been waiting for," he murmured with a villainous smirk. "Time to find out what you _really_ are, Rin."

* * *

**Just as Dib had hoped**, Tak's ship held more than enough information about Anadolians and the like. Apparently, Anadolians hailed from a planet named Anadolia, which was located in the galaxy Andromeda. Anadolia was one of Irk's allies, supplying the bulk of ingredients needed to make many snacks, which seemed to be the Irkens' primary food source. It also housed Irk's headquarters for research on the universe, although most of the attention was devoted to analyzing other planets and their defenses.

However, despite Anadolia's vast knowledge on other planets' militaries and such, Anadolia did not have one of its own, and fell prey to Irken invasion decades ago. Now, it was basically just an extension of the Irken Empire, where Anadolians, who used to be treated almost as equals, were bound in slavery.

"Wow," Dib breathed when he reached the end of the definition. "Well, at least that explains the Irken symbol on the back of Rin's ship. Still, it doesn't explain her being here . . . maybe she's a refugee? But if that's the case, then why was she flying her ship? Wouldn't she want to _stay_ here? Unless the Irkens are on her trail . . . yeah, that makes sense. Zim _did_ notice something weird about her. Maybe he notified the Tallest and they're sending someone to get her."

He gasped in excitement. "I could be housing an intergalactic criminal!"

However, as soon as he looked back at Rin, with her girly hair cut and angelic face, his rush of adrenaline vanished. How could someone that looked so harmless be considered a criminal? The way she nestled her head into his pillow and curled herself up under the blanket made her seem too sweet, too naïve to live the life of a delinquent. Actually, she reminded him of a helpless little kitten.

"No. I don't think that's the reason she's here," he admitted as he turned back around to his computer.

Suddenly, a shrill scream entered into the air and reverberated down his backbone, making Dib nearly fall out of his chair. He whipped around to see Rin, who was currently hugging her legs as she sat in fetal position, wedged in the corner between his bed and the wall. Her eyes stared at him with great fear.

Dib sighed. _Well, it was fun while it lasted._


	5. Making Amends

_**A/N: It took me a little longer than the previous ones, but here's Chapter Five. Thank you to everyone that has been reading so far; I'm glad you enjoy this as much as I enjoy writing it. Anyway, happy reading!**_

* * *

**Rin sat there silently as Dib approached the bed**, her entire body quaking as thousands of thoughts circled through her mind. This couldn't be true—she couldn't be in this boy's room right now, for she was supposed to be halfway to Andromeda. She should already be out of Earth's atmosphere and far beyond its small chunk of a moon. Maybe she was just asleep; she'd set her ship on autopilot, anyway, so it wouldn't be that big of a deal, and she had been quite tired. No big deal. All she had to do was wake up.

She took a deep breath and clenched her eyes shut tight, covering her face with her hands as she tried to concentrate on bringing herself back into consciousness. After a few seconds, she slowly removed her hands from her face and opened her eyes. Dib still stood before her, his eyes transfixed on her face, waiting for her to move.

Oh, no. This wasn't a dream—this wasn't even a nightmare. She really was in his room, in his bed, completely defenseless. Something must have gone wrong, and now she was still stuck on Earth.

_No need to panic_, she told herself, although she could feel her muscles beginning to tighten. _Just find a way to escape_.

She quickly glanced around his room and found the window to her right to be the best option. Abruptly, she jumped up and unlatched the locks above the window and slid it open, tumbling out into some shrubbery. She could feel branches getting tangled in her hair and tried to ignore the aching sensation as she ripped her head free and crawled out into the lawn. She could hear Dib calling out her name from within the house, but ignored him and got to her feet. She had almost made it to the sidewalk when she saw her ship.

"Oh, no," she whispered, approaching the ship with slow feet and a heavy heart.

She must've been so completely absorbed in the crushing feeling of despair that she didn't even hear the front door slam, or the crunching of the grass as Dib trotted up next to her.

"My ship," she mumbled, gingerly running her hand along the side and taking a moment to pause as she examined the various dents and scratches. She looked into the cockpit briefly, but quickly looked away once she started to feel a sour, nauseous feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"It took me such a long time to restore it," she said to herself, although it was loud enough for Dib to hear as well. "It was my only chance out of here . . . ."

"So you _were_ trying to leave," Dib commented, sounding very thoughtful but placid.

Rin whipped her head around, only then realizing that she was in Dib's presence. He simply stood there, a few feet away from the ship, his hands in his pockets as he watched her intently. She started to regret not hightailing it out of there when she'd made it out of the house; now that Dib had caught up with her, he probably wasn't going to let her leave so easily.

She waited for her heart rate to return to normal before responding. "Yes, I was trying to leave. It didn't go as well as I'd planned, though."

"I can see that," he said with a smile. "Still, I don't understand: why would you _want_ to leave? Earth is in a lot better condition than Anadolia right now. Why would you want to go back?"

"I wasn't going back . . . and how do you know about Anadolia?" she asked as she cocked an eyebrow.

"Oh . . . I thought you knew why you were in my room; you took off so fast. I did a bit of research while you were unconscious."

"You ran tests on me." She grit her teeth. "While I was completely vulnerable and unable to defend myself."

"Well, when you put it that way, it sounds really bad."

"How am I supposed to put it?" she asked sarcastically while she stood akimbo.

"Look, don't get all worked up. I just took a DNA sample and compared it with mine. Then, I was able to look up everything on Anadolia using my computer—and the other alien ship I have in my garage," he boasted, though Rin was anything but impressed.

"I don't remember giving you any verbal consent before you took that DNA sample."

"I didn't think I needed your consent. Besides, if I had asked, you would've just said no, anyway."

"That still doesn't excuse what you did."

He exhaled, becoming quite aggravated with Rin's stubbornness. "I didn't do anything to harm you—that should count for something. And anyway, there's one thing you're forgetting: I know you're an alien. Aren't you going to try and do something about that?"

She shrugged and leaned her back against her ship. "What _can_ I do? I can't convince you to keep it all to yourself, and I don't like hurting people. That's why I was trying to leave—if I'm gone, you will no longer be a problem, and I can finally live in peace again."

He gawked. "You were leaving because of _me_?"

"Yes, Dib. I was leaving because of you," Rin repeated. "I've lived here a lot longer than you have, and I've never caused a problem with your people, but you just can't seem to let me be. You must be a very obsessive person."

He rubbed the back of his neck apprehensively. "Yeah, actually, I am. But . . . if you're not planning to do anything evil—like annihilate all of humanity—then it really isn't fair for me to chase you away. Especially since you've probably got nowhere else to go, huh?"

"Yes . . . I really am all out of options if I leave Earth." Rin looked at him with hope clearly reflecting in her eyes. "Are you saying you're going to stop pursuing me as your ticket to stardom?"

"Yeah . . . I guess that is what I'm saying," he admitted begrudgingly. "If I'm going to become famous for my genius, I don't want to feel guilty about it afterwards."

* * *

"**Thank you!"**

Suddenly, Dib found himself engulfed in the ethereal sweetness of Rin's scent as she wrapped her arms around him. He began to feel overwhelmingly lightheaded, to point where he could no longer feel his feet touching the ground, and had to let out a sigh in order to keep his head from lifting off into the clouds. Not only did she smell lovely, it was nice to feel her soft arms embrace him with such radiating warmth . . . it was so unreal, he found himself stumbling backward when she finally let go.

_If it always feels that good to hug a girl, I've really been missing out_, he thought to himself.

"I was afraid I'd really have to go—Earth is such a beautiful planet, it would break my heart to have to leave it." Rin's voice broke him from his daydreaming. "Anadolia was so industrialized, consisting of only metal and concrete. Earth has such a diverse and natural beauty . . . you humans are truly lucky to be born into such paradise."

"Yeah . . . ." He tried focusing in on what she was saying, but all he could think about was the way it felt when she'd hugged him.

"I'm very happy you're not going to tell anyone about me, Dib."

He caught that one. "Wait . . . I can't tell anyone, either?"

Rin's smile vanished. "Of course you can't. I need to stay as well hidden as possible."

"But . . . but what was the point of me doing all of that research if I'm not going to let anyone else know about it? Please, Rin—I'm obligated to share this with at least _one _other person," he whined.

"Dib, I don't even like _you_ knowing all of this about me. I really don't want someone else to know, too."

"But I _need_ to tell someone!"

"I'm sure you can handle keeping it quiet."

"No, you don't understand! This will eat at me if I don't let it out, Rin! It'll gnaw at my brain, slowly tearing at my frontal lobe until there's nothing left but . . . slimy, mushy goo," Dib pleaded, clasping his hands together as he went to his knees. "I like my brain the way it is, Rin. Please! I have to tell someone."

She rolled her eyes. "You know, you can be quite the drama queen."

"I'm not being dramatic. I'll think about this every day for the rest of my life until it finally just bursts out of me, like some hideous, pus-filled blister." Dib stuck out his bottom lip. "Please? You can't think of one other person that wouldn't pose a threat if they knew about you?"

Rin held out a hand to help Dib get to his feet and began thinking everything over while he brushed off his knees. "Well, definitely no one in our class," she said, then shrugged. "I don't really know anyone around here well enough . . . you'd probably be the better judge, in this case."

It took him a moment, but eventually, he came to conclusion. "I could tell my dad and Gaz. They'll listen to me . . . I don't know if they'll believe me, but they'll listen. And I'm sure they won't do anything to hurt you."

"Okay, then it's settled," she said with a smile. "I'm glad we were able to work all of this out, Dib. I didn't like being angry with you; you seem like a genuinely good person. We just got off to a bit of a rough start, eh?"

She yawned. "I really need to be heading home now, though. If it's not too big of a hassle . . . could you possibly keep my ship here overnight? I'll come by after school tomorrow to pick it up, but I don't have the proper tools with me right now to move it."

_Let me see . . . would I be able to house another piece of alien spacecraft for one night?_ "You didn't even need to ask."

"Thanks. Oh, but you'll need this." She sifted through her pockets momentarily and came up with a small remote with only a single button in the center. She lightly tossed it to him and headed for the sidewalk. "Press it, and the ship will become invisible to any onlookers."

"Cool . . . but won't they still see the skid marks in the grass?"

"That will just look like an accident with the lawnmower, or the results of an overly-zealous person with a weed wacker," she replied over her shoulder. "Don't worry about it . . . and see you in school tomorrow."

"Yeah, tomorrow," he mumbled to himself as he eyed the remote in his hands, clicking the button and watching in awe as the ship disappeared. "Maybe befriending an alien won't be so bad after all."


	6. Alien Abduction

_**A/N: Sorry this chapter took me a bit longer than the previous ones, but I was having a major case of writer's block. However, I've finally been able to work through it.**_

_**Also, thank you to everyone who has reviewed and read this story so far. Your interest means so much to me, and it motivates me to write more each time. Thank you!**_

* * *

**Suddenly, a strange bird whooshed down out of the air**, landing on Dib's shoulder. Her feathers were a pastel pink, and her eyes were a deep, rich green. Her eyes also resembled Zim's in their unnatural manner of lacking pupils or irises and, instead, being one solid color. She had a rather large head and quite a small body—with such tiny wings that Dib began to wonder how she managed to fly properly. The bird's beak and feet were a pale shade of green, and to top it all off, a peculiar looking appendage protruded from the top if her head.

"Spoofy!" Rin called out affectionately, immediately rushing to Dib's side to pet the creature's head.

It had only been a few days since Rin's crash landing on Dib's lawn, but they were quickly starting to become friends. She talked to him every once in a while during recess, and he'd already filled her in on his suspicions about Zim. He was happy—but not overly shocked—to learn that Rin had felt the same way, confirming that Zim was definitely an Irken; apparently, his scent was unmistakable, as well as many of his mannerisms and, of course, his appearance. It was comforting to finally find someone who saw through Zim's crummy disguise, even though she still declined from Dib's offer of becoming his partner.

Apparently, she was afraid that conspiring against Zim would make him pay far too much attention to her—and eventually figure out that she wasn't exactly human. The last person she wanted informed about her "unearthly" origins was Zim, which, while being completely understandable, was quite annoying. Dib had finally found someone who believed him, and they didn't want to help. He couldn't exactly tell Rin that Zim wouldn't harm her, either, because that was a blatant lie; if Zim didn't mind destroying a race that never did anything to him, he would have no problem hurting an enemy.

Dib just wished there was some way to convince her that she could fight Zim without becoming exposed. He couldn't tell her there wasn't a risk, but there was also no guarantee Zim would ever find out anything. The only thing he could do was keep trying, hoping that she'll eventually give in and say yes.

The bird on his shoulder began to nuzzle up against his ear, drawing him back into the present almost immediately. "I'm guessing you know what this thing is?" Dib asked Rin as he tried shaking the animal off.

The bird jumped from Dib's arm and settled down in the middle of Rin's cupped hands. She stared up at Rin with her large green eyes in wonder, looking more adorable than words.

"Her name is Spoofy," Rin explained as she tried to keep her voice low, just in case anyone—namely Zim—happened to be eavesdropping. "She's the Anadolian equivalent of a bird."

"What's that thing poking out of her head?" Dib wondered, stepping closer to Spoofy and craning his neck to get a better view.

"It detects the vibrations let off by sound waves, as well as any other type of movement in the air. However, it can also serve as a weapon of defense—meepies generate electricity naturally and can concentrate the current into the tip of their antennae," Rin replied casually, continuing to stroke her pet's head.

"They're called 'meepies'?" He tilted his head to the side. "That's kind of . . . weird."

"Actually, it's a reference to the sound they make; Earth birds chirp, while Anadolian birds . . . well, they 'meep.'"

Dib stood there staring at Spoofy for another moment, trying to burn the image into his memory. He'd never seen something so surreal, and who knew when he'd be able to see it again. He would've pulled out his camera and snapped a picture if he wasn't so certain that Rin would go berserk.

"Anyway, what are you doing here, Spoofy? It's unlike you to defy your master's orders," Rin asked her pet in the utmost serious of voices.

The animal burst out in a series of "meeps," which completely evaded Dib but was as plain as any normal language to Rin. She nodded her head here and there, and once the meepie was finished with her explanation, Rin looked back to Dib, her expression tense and frustrated.

"I was wondering why she came here; she's actually supposed to be back at my house, protecting it from any intruders." Rin sighed. "However, it seems there's a breach in my security system. She's discovered some sort of alien device implanted deep within the walls of my house, which has succeeded in shredding a few rather essential wires. I'm going home to check it out."

"Right now? In the middle of a school day?"

"I'll see you again tomorrow, Dib. Don't look so heartbroken," she said with a playful smile. "Now, I really must be going. This doesn't sound too serious, but I don't need it to escalate into anything, either."

* * *

**Dib watched as Rin ran to the other side **of the playground before jumping the fence gracefully, with no visible effort whatsoever. She looked back briefly, probably to make sure she wasn't being pursued, and then took off, her meepie following close behind her. He sighed; he understood she had a crucial problem to take care of, but things were just starting to get interesting. He'd just uncovered something more about Anadolia and its inhabitants, but Rin ran off before he could ask any questions. Sure, he'd see her tomorrow, but it seemed like a bit long to wait . . . especially if he ended up accidentally forgetting something important he'd meant to bring up.

"Oh well. I guess I'll go do mean things to Zim," Dib said with a shrug, looking back to the tetherball pole to see if the alien in question was still being suspended.

Dib thought back to the beginning of recess with a smile. Zim had attempted to play to play tetherball with another student only to fail quite miserably—when the ball returned to him, it smacked him across the face and somehow sucked him in toward the pole. The rope wrapped around him until he was plastered to the side of the pole, much to his apparent annoyance. The kid behind the prank began laughing, then walked up to Zim and kicked him in the shin, causing Zim to grit his teeth and call the child something derogatory regarding his race.

_I wouldn't be surprised if he was still hanging there_, Dib thought as he tried to suppress a fit of laughter. When he didn't see him—as disappointing as that was—he simply proceeded to glance around the playground, knowing Zim couldn't have gone too far.

However, much to Dib's surprise, he couldn't find him anywhere. It was unlike Zim to leave early without warning, as he actually followed most of the rules, but then again, there _had_ been a few times when Zim had skipped out for some reason or another. Still, it was a little fishy for both Rin _and_ Zim to be missing at the same time. After all, he'd just seen Zim not too long ago, and as soon as Rin left, he seemed to disappear.

Dib frowned. "Something tells me this isn't just a coincidence."

Abruptly, Dib heard a dull flapping noise in his ear, followed by a short "meep." Looking over, he saw a pink meepie currently hovering at eye level, her big green eyes fraught with worry.

"Hey, you're Rin's pet, aren't you?"

The meepie began to panic, going off on some sort of rant consisting only of the word "meep." Dib, being a human, didn't grasp a single thing the creature was trying to translate to him and grew quite frustrated.

"I don't understand you," he said and began to turn away when the creature screeched.

Looking back, he watched as the birdlike animal held a twig between her feet and scrawled the words "save Rin" out into the dirt. When she'd finished, she dropped the stick to the side and twirled back around to Dib, flapping her wings frantically and reciting "meep" over and over again.

"Rin?" Dib gasped. "Oh, no! My worst fears have been realized—Zim's got Rin, and he's probably running all sorts of sick tests on her! I must go to her rescue!"

He began running off in the same direction Rin had went earlier, leaving the meepie in his dust to wonder at the curious human. All she'd said was that her master was sending out a distress signal from somewhere in the city and had requested that help be sent immediately. Spoofy had only recruited Dib because she'd smelled his scent on Rin earlier and figured he was a friend. Who was this Zim person?

Suddenly, Dib was before Spoofy again, slightly out of breath. "Which way do I go?"

* * *

**Rin woke up groggier than ever** and felt a painful throbbing sensation near the back of her head. Her eyes were strangely heavy, as if she hadn't slept in years, but she couldn't get back to sleep—a sickening smell had invaded her nostrils, similar to the stench of spoiled meat, and didn't seem to want to leave. She tried holding her breath, but when the smell still didn't go away, she decided it was best to open her eyes and figure out what was going on.

What she saw caused the breath to catch in her throat. Various pipes and wires lined the ceiling, and around the room were a few liquid-filled containment chambers. If she looked directly in front of her, she could see a large monitor surrounded by a few smaller ones, seemingly suspended in the air, and a large control panel with many complicated buttons. She tried to get up in order to better inspect the place, but quickly found that her movement was very much restricted—she was strapped to some sort of examination table that seemed to be positioned in the middle of the room.

It was all too familiar—the technology, the language inscribed on the controls, and the various symbols flickering past on the monitor before her. It was a part of her life that she'd hoped to block out completely—now, it was staring her straight in the face, unabashed and as frightening as ever. Everything about the room screamed Irken, and she could only hope she was imagining it.

"Why, hello, Rin. It's good to see you've finally awaken."

Rin watched as the undisguised Zim jumped onto the examination table and nearly straddled her, keeping a few inches between their bodies as he placed his legs on either side of hers and his hands on the outside of each of her shoulders. She knew he only did so to get the best view of her possible, but it was still very uncomfortable . . . especially since the pungent aroma from before seemed to be emanating from his body. However, she knew it was probably best not to let on about her disgust—she'd learned from past experience that most Irkens were malicious and violent, and Zim was probably no different. The last thing she needed to do was upset him.

"What am I doing here?" she tried to sound calm and collected, but her voice ended up cracking mid-sentence.

"You're probably wondering what you're doing here," he said in a self-satisfied tone.

Rin cocked an eyebrow. "Yeah, I am . . . or I wouldn't have asked."

He still seemed oblivious. "Well, are you curious?"

Rin squirmed; she couldn't take much more of his inattentiveness . . . or that awful odor. She had to let him know, even if it meant putting her life on the line. "Um, I don't mean to be rude, but that smell is making it really hard to concentrate. You stink . . . like rotting meat."

Much to her amazement, he didn't seem offended, but confused. Then, his face lit up as he had an epiphany—digging deep into his pocket, he unearthed an old, moldy sandwich, which was undoubtedly the source of the sour smell. The bread was covered in fuzzy white and blue speckles, and the middle of the sandwich was composed of a gigantic mass of green and brown stench.

"I forgot I had that in there," he admitted, dismissively throwing it to the ground.

Rin then watched as Zim's robot, G.I.R., quickly snatched it up and consumed of the repulsive sandwich, making her stomach heave upward as he chewed with his mouth open and coughed as he tried to swallow. When he was finished, he licked his lips and wiped his mouth on his arm, making Rin wonder how a robot could act so revoltingly.

Zim gripped the sides of Rin's face and forced her to look at him, her reflection staring back at her from within Zim's large magenta eyes. "Now, pathetic human, listen closely as I explain to you the finer points of my plan. You will tell me all you know about the Dib-worm, or you shall suffer the immense pain of having hair grow on the outer layer of your eyeballs."

She gulped. "You could actually do that?"

"Oh, I could do a lot of things to you. However, watching you gripe in agony as your eyeballs become infested with thick, scratchy hair will be the most fun." He grinned brightly before grimacing. "Now, tell me everything—_everything_!"

She smiled uneasily. "Couldn't we avoid this entire altercation by having you ask _Dib_ about whatever you want to know?"

"Insanity! I'm not looking for trivial little details—I'm out to uncover his deepest, darkest, ugliest secrets . . . secrets to aid me in _destroying_ him!" He sighed. "I've tried asking him before, but he refuses to tell me anything."

"Well, you shouldn't waste your time asking me, either. I just moved here, remember?" She shrugged. "Besides, even if I did know something, I wouldn't tell you."

He laughed. "You poor, misguided child—protecting the Dib-human out of love is foolish and quite unnecessary. I was only giving you the chance to tell me yourself out of common courtesy; I have plenty of other means by which to extract the desired knowledge from your inferior, human brain juices. I will get what I want, and if that involves ripping apart your skull and physically sucking the intelligence out of you, then so be it."

She decided to ignore the threat clearly stated in that sentence and, instead, focused on something far less serious. "Wait a minute . . . did you just falsely accuse me of being in love with Dib?"

His face went blank. "Huh?"

"You think I'm in love with Dib?"

"Why else would you bother protecting him?" he asked with a shrug.

She sighed. "Can't a person refrain from selling someone else out without being accused of an ulterior motive anymore?"

He blinked.

"Fine," she muttered. "Let's just say I'm returning the favor and leave it at that. Now, can I please go home?"

"Absolutely not!" He fiercely grabbed the strap that held Rin in place and tightened it until she could barely breathe. "I told you I would find out what I want to know. After I'm done squeezing the smart from your brain, I shall use you as one of my test subjects. First, however, I'd like to try out one of my newest creations."

He jumped down from the examination table and began rummaging through a small pile near the room's main control panel. "Now, where did I put that vial of 'fuzzy eyeball' fluid? Ah, here we go . . . now, all I need is a syringe of some sort . . . ."

Rin began to struggle against her restraints, her heart rate increasing tenfold and forehead coated in a cold sweat. She had to get out of there, but her straps wouldn't budge. She'd almost forgotten how impressive Irken technology could be, probably from so many years of going without it. However, this was one time when she could've done without being reminded—especially with a maniacal Irken invader ready to bring a whole new level of agony into her life.

_Just remain calm_, she told herself. _You can get through this—all you have to do is reason with him. Irkens can be fairly agreeable when they want to be._

She took a deep breath. "Before you inject me with your hair-inducing concoction, I think you'd benefit by knowing I'm probably not your best choice for a test subject."

"You're probably right. Still, I've been running low on female specimens, so you'll have to do," he responded as he slowly turned around to face her, with a syringe full of some strange, bubbly, yellow liquid in his hand. "Now, try not to squirm around too much. The reaction will take place much faster if I get this directly into your femoral vein."

She gulped. _I think it's time to start rethinking that whole 'reasoning' plan._


	7. Schemes Derailed and Piggy Tails

_**A/N: Sorry it's been so long since my last update. I've been having a bit of trouble juggling my schedule lately. Hopefully, the next chapter will be up in less time than this one. Regardless, happy reading!**_

* * *

"**You know, for a bird, you're pretty slow,"** Dib said as he hurriedly jogged down the back roads leading to Zim's house. Spoofy was following behind him, her wings fluttering at maximum speed as she desperately tried to keep up. However, her size left her at a disadvantage, and Dib found himself slowing down for her on more than one occasion.

"I don't see why I even waste my time waiting for you," he mumbled angrily. "I already know where Zim lives . . . and I might not have a plan to get Rin out, but I'll come up with one. I really don't need you anymore—you're just slowing me down."

Spoofy's eyes narrowed as she went off on one of her meeping tangents. To the well-trained ear, one could clearly hear her complain about Dib's impulsive and discourteous behavior. Why, without her help, he wouldn't have even known Rin was in trouble. She searched him out, knowing that Rin was his friend after detecting his scent on her clothing a few days ago. Spoofy had done him a favor, and this was the thanks she got—some ungrateful little preteen whining about her speed. She had half a mind to begin pecking at that large head of his, if she wasn't so certain that it would upset Rin. Why did her master like this boy, anyway?

"For the last time, I don't understand you." Dib rolled his eyes and sped up, hoping to lose the annoying little meepie before he reached Zim's. "I knew I hated birds for some reason."

Before he knew it, Spoofy had rammed her small feet against the side of his head. He stumbled to the side, losing his balance in the process. She began spewing her spiteful meeps over him once more, this time reminding him of her species. She wasn't a bird from his horrific planet—she was a meepie, a native of Anadolia! Earthlings were so full of themselves.

"Ow! That hurt," Dib grumbled, gingerly rubbing the side of his head. "I thought you liked me."

Spoofy stuck her beak in the air, obviously through with acknowledging the human. She took off in the direction of Zim's house before Dib had a chance to get to his feet.

"Wait up!" he called out as he rushed to regain his footing, and then sprinted to catch up with the little animal. He let out a sigh on the way. "This had better be worth the abuse."

* * *

**Back at Zim's lab, Rin could feel herself beginning **to teeter on the verge of hysteria. She could hardly contain herself as he approached her with that fat, ominous syringe. When he'd reached the left side of the examination table, he removed the cap to expose the wire-thin, razor-sharp needle that would soon inject a frothy, citron-tinted fluid of pain into her bloodstream. A scream began to itch at the back of her throat. She wanted to open her mouth and shriek until the very glass on his containment chambers shattered, but her vocal chords seemed to be knotted into a tangled mess.

He drew the needle ever closer to her abdomen, causing Rin to shut her eyes and bite her lip in anticipation for the inevitable anguish. When nothing happened, she slowly opened one eye, then both of them once she realized he'd put the syringe down and was searching for something else.

"All of this excitement almost made me forget to prep the injection site," he muttered to himself, once again sifting through a large pile of sorts. He came up with a jar of some clear, gelatinous substance, but he moved too quickly for Rin to decipher the Irken labeling.

He unscrewed the lid and placed it next to Rin's left shoulder on the examination table, almost mocking Rin in her inability to knock the despicable jar to the floor. After accumulating a good amount of it on his fingers, he roughly scrunched up her skirt and slathered the cold, thick gel over her thin stockings, on the area where her thigh met the lowermost part of her abdomen. She shivered from the contact, and the seriousness of the situation finally began to register.

He was actually going to go through with this—it wasn't some sort of sick joke, but horrifying reality. Zim planned on making her eyeballs sprout hair, even though she'd never done anything to him to cause such aggression. It seemed the only reason he was being so mean was due to his misguided beliefs about Rin being in love with Dib . . . and running low on female "specimens."

_I can't just lay here and let this happen_, she concluded. _I've got to fight back—even if it scares the very life out of me_.

So, she started wriggling. She flailed her legs and tried kicking him in the squeedly spooch when he got too close, and had almost done so more than once. All she had to do was clear her mind and pretend that Zim wasn't a bloodthirsty invader, but some normal human who'd crossed the line.

"I knew I should've used shackles," Zim grumbled, stepping back from the examination table. He waited a moment for her to calm down, then leaned over and stretched out a hand to scrunch her skirt back up. She almost dealt a blow to his face in the process.

"Stop squirming!" he ordered, tossing the syringe to the side before roughly grabbing her legs.

She continued to writhe beneath his hands. "No!"

"Stop it!"

"I said no!"

He growled. "Computer!"

"What?" his computer answered in an agitated tone, perpetually fed up with Zim's requests.

"Prepare a sedative for me to administer to the unruly human. I still want her to be conscious, so make it minimal," he said with a grimace as he looked to Rin. "That should put a stop to your annoying outbursts."

"Before I do so, sir, you make like to know you have an intruder," his computer interjected lightly, causing Zim's face to flare up in aggravation.

"Who could it be now?" He walked over to one of the smaller monitors, ran his fingers over a few buttons, and a live camera feed of the ground floor came into view. Darting through the front door was his least favorite pointy-haired paranormal enthusiast, followed by a strange pink bird.

Zim's eyes narrowed. "Dib." He walked over to the elevator shaft connecting his lab to the ground floor, looking back to Rin briefly before stepping inside. "We shall continue this after I take care of your meddling, little . . . love monkey-thing."

He was gone before Rin could correct him on the status of her relationship with Dib—which, as far as she was concerned, was barely a friendship yet, let alone something based on intimacy. Granted, they'd been able to put Dib's short-lived obsession with exposing her behind them, but they were only just starting to get to know each other. They got along and everything . . . but . . . well, he was a human and she was an Anadolian. She could manage to be his friend, but going anywhere beyond that was dishonorable; her people were very strict about the purity of their bloodlines. She may not have agreed with it entirely, but it was a code that Anadolians had lived by for centuries and had prided themselves over. Being the only free Anadolian left, she felt a duty to uphold her people's honor and dignity.

_Besides, it's not like I have anything to worry about_, she reminded herself. _He's so involved with foiling Zim's plans, he probably hasn't even 'noticed' girls yet . . . at least, not the way his other classmates have._

Suddenly, she felt something poking at her forehead rather roughly. It didn't take long before she realized Zim's little robot was the cause. G.I.R. had jumped onto the examination table and was currently sitting on her chest. He gave her a goofy smile when he noticed she was looking at him.

"Aw, you're so _cute_," he said with a beaming grin, amused by the expression she gave him as he mashed in her cheeks. "Your face is all squishy, too . . . like mashed potatoes!"

"That hurts," she tried saying, but it came out distorted and muffled as G.I.R. continued to abuse her face.

"Master says you smell funny, but I don't think so. You smell like cupcakes . . . I like cupcakes." He looked dangerously mellow for a moment, and then he gasped. "You know what will make you look even cuter? Piggy tails!"

He hopped down from the examination table and quickly sprinted down a long hallway, lit only by the dim, mechanical glow that seemed to be the primary source of light in Zim's extensive lab. The little robot was back in seconds with a handful of mismatched rubber bands.

G.I.R. jumped back onto Rin's chest with a squeal, proceeding to yank large clumps of hair and twist rubber bands around the jumbled strands. Rin yelped and tried to knock him off by wriggling back and forth, but nothing seemed to work. Her only comfort was in knowing that her hair was short, so there probably wasn't much for G.I.R. to pull. That didn't, however, stop her from screaming.

* * *

**Zim made it upstairs through the small trash can** just in timeto catch Dib trying to sneak down the toilet, which—as Dib was well aware—wasn't actually a toilet, but a "cleverly-crafted" structure built around an elevator leading to the lab below. The human had somehow managed to break into Zim's base many times, so he knew most of the hidden passageways, as well as various other secrets that were normally imperceptible to the untrained eye. This was more than just slightly grating, but Zim decided not to focus too much on it. Right now, he just needed to make Dib leave—Zim could finish him off once he was finished experimenting on Rin.

"What are you doing in my house?" He questioned lividly, rushing over to the toilet and jerking Dib backward. This caused the human to stumble about ungraciously for a few seconds before regaining his balance.

"I know you've got Rin, Zim," he said with a grimace. "What are you doing to her?"

"I'm afraid that doesn't concern you, Dib-worm."

"She's down in your lab, isn't she?" His eyes were transfixed rigidly on Zim's face.

"What makes you think I'll tell _you_?"

His glare intensified. "Is she?"

Zim hesitated, eventually replying with a smug grin, "Yes."

Dib lunged for the toilet and managed to get a foot inside the bowl before Zim could stop him. He pulled the handle and ducked as Zim grabbed for his head, only to have the alien hastily scramble down the shaft after him. They began to tussle, Zim ramming Dib's head into the side of the elevator and Dib appropriately kicking Zim in the shin. Zim staggered backward until he fell, which Dib took as his cue to jump at the Irken and begin trying to choke him. Zim, however, quickly caught on and pushed him backward, causing Dib to lose his balance and plunge to the floor.

Once they'd reached the lab, they rolled out of the elevator together. G.I.R. temporarily stopped tormenting Rin long enough to watch the two wrestle, laughing as Zim succeeded in pinning Dib to the floor by putting him in a half-nelson. However, as soon as Zim flipped him over, the human quickly snatched one of his antennae and wrenched it toward the ground. As the struggle marched on, Rin began to wonder when either one of them would notice she was still strapped to an examination table.

Her worriment was alleviated once she saw Spoofy swooping down one of the elevator shafts, intent upon rescuing her master. The meepie, out of sheer excitement, accidentally flew in rather close to Zim's head, which proved to be beneficial. The Irken instantly jolted to his feet and began to shriek, labeling the meepie as a "demon bird" as he ran toward the opposite side of the room and cowered behind a chair. Spoofy, amused by his fearful reaction, flew to his side of the room and began to unleash her natural electrical charge upon him.

G.I.R. giggled until Zim ordered him to go into defensive mode, which prompted the robot to begin pulling Rin's hair again. The mayhem continued for about a minute before Dib realized what was going on.

He rushed to the examination table and shooed G.I.R. away, but once he saw Rin's hair, he almost tumbled to the floor in a painful fit of laughter. Various tufts of hair were bunched together with tiny rubber bands in an assortment of colors, but the placement of the pigtails was truly what made her hairstyle so embarrassingly hilarious. There was one positioned near her left ear, another directly above her forehead, and a few scattered along the top of her head. He felt guilty for finding it so funny, but he really couldn't help it.

"You can stop laughing now," Rin said with a bitter glower.

"No, I don't think I can," he replied with a nasal giggle. However, once he noticed she was still glaring at him, his laughing came to a close with a cough. "Sorry. Let me help you with that strap."

He successfully liberated her without Zim noticing—actually, Zim was still too preoccupied with being zapped by Spoofy to notice much of anything. He remained in a state of shock even after the trio had left his base, crouching behind his chair and shivering. It wasn't until G.I.R. had snatched the remote and flicked the largest monitor to some pointless television show involving a singing sunflower and a fat, freakish-yet-adorable bunny that Zim snapped back into reality.

"Wait! You can't just leave! Get back here!" Unfortunately, they were long gone, leaving Zim to resign to another section of his lab, tinkering away with some new device and trying to put the entire experience behind him. He would try for the remainder of the day without success.

* * *

**Dib decided to walk Rin home, even though he was having** difficulty abstaining from chuckling as she gently freed rubber bands from her hair. She'd sent Spoofy home ahead of them, and was currently wrestling with any remaining unwelcome elastic. Once all seemed clear, she ran her fingers through her hair in an attempt to detangle any newly formed knots. She gave up after getting her fingers stuck a few times, and simply ruffled her hair to try and return it to its normal shape. It didn't quite work, but at least the deformed pigtails—and Dib's snickering—no longer plagued her.

"So, how did you know where to find me?" Rin asked once they'd reached a safe distance from the green alien's house.

"Well, when I noticed Zim was missing from school and your pet came to tell me 'save Rin,' I just put two and two together." He looked down to his feet. "I'm just glad I got there before anything horrible happened."

"Me, too." Rin nodded. "You saved my life, Dib. I am in your debt."

He smiled sheepishly. "Let's not get carried away. It didn't look like Zim was planning on _killing _you."

"No, but he was planning on turning me into one of his test subjects." She sighed. "I had no idea the problem was so serious. I didn't realize he'd gone so far as to take human prisoners. He's bent on this planet, even if it means attacking one human at a time."

"See? I told you," Dib was quick to remind her, his eyes ablaze with new hope. "Rin, he's never going to stop unless someone makes him—and so far, that someone has just been me."

"Well, it doesn't have to be." She looked over to him. "Dib, it is Anadolian tradition to offer a gift for a random act of kindness—and an even greater gift when a life is saved. However, I've been away from Anadolia so long that I have nothing of value to give. All I have left to offer are my services . . . and my eternal gratitude."

His face lit up almost immediately. Rin didn't even have time to blink before she felt his hands on her shoulders, and his face was only a few inches from her own. "Are you saying you'll help me? Is that what you're actually saying?"

"I'm afraid that is all I could ever give to you," she shrugged.

He had his arms around her before he even had time to convince himself otherwise. His face was nestled into her hair, which smelled absolutely amazing, and her skin was even warmer than he'd remembered. He probably would've kissed her out of sheer excitement if the mere thought didn't scare him senseless.

"This is just great, Rin! You won't be sorry, I promise!"

"Did I make you that happy, Dib?" She asked innocently, her cheeks aflame at the unexpected intensity of his emotions.

"I'm not just happy—I'm ecstatic!" He broke away, only to place his hands on her shoulders again. "Now, come on. I have a bunch of stuff at my house I've been saving for the day I found my partner in Earth's salvation."

Suddenly, Rin's expression changed to that of hesitance. "Oh, Dib, I couldn't. It wouldn't be right for me to accept anything when I am unable to give something of my own."

"Hey, you said you were in my debt, right?"

She raised a tentative eyebrow. "Yes, but I don't see what—"

"Well, consider this another way of making it up to me." He lightly pulled on her arm. "Now, let's get going before it gets too dark."

She sighed. "Fine."

Before she knew it, Rin was running a few paces behind Dib, following him over the winding sidewalks as they made their way toward his house. She was beginning to regret that whole "I am eternally grateful" spiel—she had no idea Dib would turn out to be so manipulative. Sure, he seemed a bit obsessive, what with his fanatical observations of Zim over the last few months; she was surprised no one had confused his spying tactics with stalking yet. However, she would've never suspected him to be so fluent in the art of manipulation.

All characteristics aside, it would be rude to deny his wishes after he saved her life, no matter how much it pained her to admit it. Maybe he'd forget about it after a few days, and things would just go back to normal.

Little did Rin know that things would never be the same again.


End file.
